This is an abstract from the 2024 IBO Report. Click here to download the full report
Health Research continues to be a focus and priority of the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council. Human clinical studies require many years to complete and despite the delays in progress during the Covid years, we now have studies that are completed and being published in scientific journals.
One recent publication (1) describes a study that was a substudy of the original Circle Study. The original Circle Study enrolled 115 participants with Metabolic Syndrome and no self-reported cognitive dysfunction. The results demonstrated that 6 months of daily supplementation with the equivalent of 1 cup of fresh blueberries resulted in cardiovascular benefits such as an increase in the flexibility of blood vessels, and an increase in HDL levels.
Another recently published study (2) looked at blueberry intake and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in women. AMD causes the blurring of central vision and is a significant cause of blindness worldwide. It is the leading cause of vision loss for Americans sixty-five years of age and older and can impact daily activities such as driving, viewing television, or reading text on a computer, phone or newspaper (3).
Their data on over 35,000 women showed that women who ate > 1 serving of blueberries weekly had a significant 28% reduction in total AMD, but not visually significant AMD. Blueberry intake has increased significantly from the early 1990’s when this survey was conducted, and it would be interesting to see the effect in a larger group of women with higher intakes.
References
- Curtis CJ, van der Velpen V, Berends L, Jennings A, Haag L, Minihane A, Chandra P, Kay CD, Rimm EB, Cassidy A. Chronic and postprandial effect of blueberries on cognitive function, alertness, and mood in participants with metabolic syndrome-results from a six-month, double-blind, randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2024, 119:658-668.
- Sesso HD, Rautiainen S, Park SJ, Kim E, Lee I, Glynn RJ, Buring JE, Christen WG. Intake of blueberries, anthocyanins, and risk of eye disease in women. Journal of Nutrition 2024, 154:1404-1413.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Learn About Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More scientific studies
Photo: Racool_studio / Karolina Grabowska from Pixabay
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